


Music's made my the madman

by razzysnow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Brotherly Love, COURT CASE AU, Fluff, Friendship, Happy times, I repeat, M/M, OT4, OT5, but they're not together yet, frog and toad - Freeform, larry - Freeform, one direction - Freeform, x factor - Freeform, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:20:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8098381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/razzysnow/pseuds/razzysnow
Summary: The 2016 court case au where one direction gets sued and unfortunately, Zayn has to show up as well. Some ot4 fluff and slight ot5 if you squint. References to tumblr memes. - crack fic? sort of?





	

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading :)  
> comment <3  
> check our my larry grease au called Our Darling Shenanigans
> 
> tumblr:snoopdogglouis

_ The boyband have been listed in a High Court action along with a host of other songwriters. _

_ Rumours circulated last week that a One Direction reunion may be on the cards but they were quickly quashed. _

_ Now, however, it looks like they’ll be reuniting for different reasons after an Irish law firm issued a High Court action against the pop group.  _

 

“Alright, now that’s a load of shit.” Louis mutters under his breath, crushing his drag with his left shoe. He probably should actually put it out in the specific reserved area above the trash can but hey, it’s cooler this way. He does scoff when the idea of Harry getting pissed at him for littering passes his mind.

Damn. 

It’s been a while. 

 

“Jackie!”Niall exclaims, hopping over his air hockey table. His shoves his phone in front of his delightful neighbors face, “Check this!” 

His neighbor steps away from the game table to reluctantly see what news Niall has this time. He almost chokes on water, “You’re getting  _ sued _ .” He grows pale, “You’ll be okay-”

“ _ Okay?  _ This is fucking brilliant! Finally getting the lads holiday I’ve been waiting for.”

Jackie stares at him wide-eyed. This irish kid has always been strange. 

 

“Excuse me?”Liam questions, eye narrowing at the librarian. “Do you know who I am?” 

Now, Liam doesn’t like pulling that card but it’s a must for right now. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. 

The librarian blinks slowly, almost as if she’ll fall asleep any moment. She recites,  “Sir, the library is open to all and promotes the ideal of accessible learning materials-”

“I just want to check out my books please.”

“You can check out less than three books at a time, sir.” 

So if Liam ends up bribing a kid for more “Court 101” books no one has to know. 

 

Harry hears silence from the other end. Then Nick speaks, “You can’t write a bloody letter, Harry. What is wrong with you?” 

Harry shrugs, choosing between a birthday card  _ with _ music or a card  _ without _ musi, but with a pop up giraffe. “An apology letter or something? I’m sure they’ll understand-”

“Oh for fucks sake, Harry. You’re getting  _ sued _ .” 

Harry sighs, rolling his eyes. He chooses the one with the giraffe. Waterproof. 

 

Zayn doesn’t find out from someone else. It’s not like he usually checks on the boys like some teenager stalking their ex even after two months. 

But he finds out by himself because it was an accident.

In an unfortunate turn of events he’s getting sued. Cool.

Well,  _ actually _ , he’s not part of One Direction anymore. So, Zayn exits out the tab and moves onto the next level of candy crush. 

 

Niall manages to stir awake  _ before _ the sun. He doesn’t need any motivation to get up today other than the fact that he’s seeing his boys. Because even if the boys get annoyed [every](http://41.media.tumblr.com/d08d1be3e1335097c17a05a221ba8e38/tumblr_n58l1pEjpu1rhcnyco1_1280.png) [single](http://41.media.tumblr.com/766a3f81eb112e23606533514bac6525/tumblr_njcuhcTr4I1txn4tso7_1280.jpg) [Time](http://41.media.tumblr.com/fd439bd8b704c84c3479d1926a1ec13b/tumblr_n9777pqwtT1qedo7ho1_500.jpg) [he](https://67.media.tumblr.com/bf19c996256e9b26bc93e2b840d824d5/tumblr_inline_nfd5ipN5O21rlo5rk.jpg) [takes](http://66.media.tumblr.com/933e9bfa4cd75db8f4faab76b6ec87a1/tumblr_inline_nkr8maNNeC1qbvvgo.jpg)  [t](https://67.media.tumblr.com/dec59a181d4fffa9b72b77f6f6af777a/tumblr_inline_o80im7GKvS1tgvv2h_540.jpg) [heir](https://67.media.tumblr.com/dec59a181d4fffa9b72b77f6f6af777a/tumblr_inline_o80im7GKvS1tgvv2h_540.jpg)  s elfies, he does it with good purpose. Because even if everyone else thinks all he does is yap all day, he’s smart enough to to be the only one to try and capture the moment. Not photoshoots, not fans pictures but for  _ them _ . One day the boys will appreciate it he’s sure. For now, Niall blasts some songs from Up All Night and gets ready. 

With one more glance into the reflection of the phone, Niall gives himself a wink before [walking](http://trulymadlyqueerly.tumblr.com/post/150654669186) into the tribunal. 

He’s the first one here. It’s actually empty other than the judge. 

So he excuses himself to avoid the awkwardness. He steps outside into the hall when his phone rings, “Tommmoo-”

“Shut up. I can’t believe this has to happen at 8am. Honestly, I thought my sentence wouldn’t start til  _ after _ the trail ya know?” 

Niall chuckles. Classic Louis. “Hurry your arse. I’m alone here with the judge.”

He can feel Louis smirk from the other side, “Turn around ya doof.” He hangs up. 

Niall turns to see his brown haired friend with the tattoos and vans that he was so used to seeing  _ everyday _ . And no, he’s not tearing up. But it’s a bit overwhelming, hugging the guy who  _ insists _ he’s 5’9”. The one who played soccer aid with him. The guy he looked up to when he was sixteen in X Factor. One of  _ his best mates _ now. 

“Oi, don’t get emotional on me now. Stop ruining my shirt.” Louis laughs, stepping back. 

Louis opens his mouth but the sound of  _ squeaking _ boots skidding down the halls capture their attention. Along with a thud. 

“Harry.” Niall and Louis say at the same time with a knowing smile. 

They walk over to him and Niall extends his hand, “Get up mate.” 

Harry reddens, “Just wanted to join the hug.” 

Louis rolls his eyes with fond, wondering how he  _ lived _ with this guy before. Speaking of, “Harry, can you admit that it was actually you who broke the kettle?” 

Harry gives him a confused look before remembering, “You’re still on that?  _ Louis _ , come on. I actually know how to use-”

Louis whacks him on the arm, “I know how to use a damn kettle Harold.” 

And it’s like old times. 

Harry smiles, an odd sensation at hearing “ _ Harold” _ once again. 

A slam of the door makes them all jump. 

Liam marches up to them, “We have exactly 3 minutes to plan what we’re going to say since none of you want to prepare this.” Liam shoves a sheet of a paper at each one of them, not giving them a chance to speak, “Louis, you’re section one since I don’t trust you with three and you have to keep a professional posture-”

“Liam, what are you on about? You’re so bloody uptight.  _ Relax _ .” 

“Give me a hug.” 

“ _ You killed a tree for this _ .”

“Boys!” An officer calls them into the tribunal and they all rush inside. 

There’s a jury now, a group of ten to twelve people. The judge seems as bored as ever and the guy who’s suing them is wearing a  _ fedora _ . 

_ “Harry _ .” Louis hisses, leaning forward to look at him as they sit behind a table. “Are you checking him out?” 

_ This _ is why Louis has grown to despise Harry sometimes. He’s so ridiculous. He can tell Harry’s ogling the guys’ hat and just hopes that’s all there is to it. 

“No.” Harry says bluntly. “Are  _ you _ checking him out?” 

What a comeback Louis thinks. He’s so childish sometimes. 

“Stop bickering and  _ listen _ .” Liam pleads, thankful that he’s sat in between these too. Well, maybe not that thankful. Now Harry looks like he might faint. Liam sighs, “What’s wrong  _ now _ ?” 

Harry doesn’t reply. So Liam turns to see what on earth has got Harry like this. 

_ Zayn _ . 

Harry gets up, knee bumping into Liam’s face by accident, “What the fuck?” 

Now as much as this might them in more trouble, Louis loves a good ol’ fight. 

Zayn strides down, sitting next to the least person likely to attack him, Niall. 

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Harry asks with an annoyed voice. 

“Do you hear something?” Zayn asks sarcastically to no one specific. “Or am I hearing voices?” 

“You’re hearing voices alright you fucking ass-”

Louis takes the responsibility of yanking Harry back down. He gives him a look and that’s enough for Harry to cross his arms and huff. “I wore boots[first](http://trulymadlyqueerly.tumblr.com/post/150654654686).”

“Are you done yet? Have you finished yet?” Zayn says glaring at him. 

“Have you  _ started _ your solo career yet?” Louis snaps back, glaring back at him. 

“ _ Boys. _ ” The officer coughs  impatiently. 

Niall smiles perfectly aware of all the tension. He nudges Zayn with a friendly smile and Zayn looks at him like he’s crazy. 

So yeah, Niall was secretly pissed off that Zayn left. Cried a bit. More than a bit. 

And alright, like the sap he is, it bothered him that Zayn  _ left _ . That he left behind  _ everything _ . Even the mixtape that Niall gave him for his birthday. 

Because he genuinely believed Zayn would come back after those three days. He played it off as a joke. And maybe a major reason was to avoid giving Louis a meltdown. (Which happened afterwards) 

And the  _ iconic _ tweet led Harry’s hatred towards Zayn to double. 

And as much as Niall might want to hear Zayn sing You and I one more time, he knows it won't happen. 

If you love someone, let them go.

But Zayn could damnright run over three people and Niall would be right at his side.

Actually, no. That's a terrible comparison to his undying brotherly love but you get the point. 

So Niall says what could possibly be the last thing to save _ Ziall _ . 

“Beep bo.” 

_ Not this _ . Zayn thinks. 

“Beep. Bo.” Niall says again with a more robot voice. 

Zayn pinches his arm. He tries not to make eye contact with Niall who’s clearly staring straight at him. 

“Bap.” 

Zayn snorts. 

His face turns  _ red _ and the three other guys give him glares. Niall's’ the only one with a stupid grin on his face. 

It’s an inside joke, yeah? 

Zayn remembers when he wanted to get a robot tattoo and he dragged Niall to go with him. He  _ begged _ Niall to get a tattoo as well. Even offered to draw one for him. 

Niall refused obviously but he was there nonetheless, chanting “Beep,Bo” and quoting other robot things as Zayn bared through the slight pain of the needle. 

His thoughts were interrupted once the Judge says, “ Alright well, we’re gonna take a short recess now.” 

“[Careful](http://soloalbumlouis.tumblr.com/post/150651603007/irish-judge-were-gonna-take-a-short-recess), that one has a tendency to leave while we're in the middle of something.” Harry says pointing aggressively towards Zayn. 

“Get your ugly finger out of my face.” Zayn barks, slapping it away. 

Harry gets cocky, sitting up, “Resorting to calling my finger ugly? Really? Commenting on appearance-”

“Your. Finger. Is.  _ Ugly _ . “ Zayn repeats, punching out every word. 

Harry gets up, hitting Liam in the face again with his knee going over to tackle Zayn. 

“We didn’t even talk about anything!” Liam exclaims, speaking directly to the judge. “How could it be recess already?” 

“I don’t make the rules kid.” The judge shrugs. 

“You know, “Louis says, sliding next to Niall. “I actually don’t know who’d win the fight. Zayn or Harry?”

“I think Harry.” 

“But look at him.” Louis comments, pointing to where Harry’s currently cat fighting with Zayn. 

“Okay but look at  _ Zayn _ .” Niall says and Zayn tries to crawl out from under Harry but Harry ends up stealing Zayn’s boots, “I wore these  _ first _ .” 

Zayn gets up, almost slipping in his socks, “I wear them  _ better _ .” 

Louis  _ cackles _ and soon enough so does everyone else. All the attention goes towards Zayn’s feet.

“You’re wearing the socks I gave you?” Liam asks incredulously. 

Zayn goes red, “So? I’m not gonna throw out a pair of socks. I’m not a  _ baby _ .” 

“What do you mean by that!” Harry says getting defensive. 

They all stand there awkwardly, looking like a mess when the officer tells them to sit back down. 

“Alright, your turn.” The judge says speaking to the prosecutor. 

They go on a tirade. Yelling complaints here and there. 

“Wow. You guys have got to admit that  _ this _ is by far the [loudest](http://martymcflarry.tumblr.com/post/150654676465/louisxharry-prosecution-starts-yelling-at)  crowd we’ve ever had.” Liam says, with a surprised and impressed expression. 

“No wonder why you left.” Louis mutters under his breath. 

Zayn overhears him and chuckles softly in agreement. He tries to make eye contact with Harry but Harry won’t let go of the boots. 

He keeps them in his lap, one on each leg so they don’t stratch against each other. 

So the ruling  _ actually _ has to happen. So despite the fact that they had  _ lawyors _ and no one had the heart to inform them, Liam decided to speak first. Niall chimed in while Zayn would give inputs here and there. Harry was the second to last to speak and Louis helped Harry wrap up his thoughs and concluded everything nicely.

If there were any outright obvious stolen music from artists, they would apologize and work out an agreement. But Zayn made sure to mention that a  _ g chord _ was not  _ stolen _ . And things like that. 

So that was the end of that. Case closed. 

Louis was bouncing his knee impatiently because yes he wanted to leave but it made him nervous at the same time. Harry was having a moral crisis on whether or not he  _ has _ to return the boots to Zayn. Liam wants to start a streak with Zayn. And Niall, well, he sighs. 

They all stand and walk out into the hallway quietly, tension drifitng around them. 

Harry mutters under his breath as he hands Zayn his boots 

“Thanks.” Zayn says bluntly. As he grabs the boots, he notices a green circle surrounding Harry’s finger, where a ring would lie. “You know, if you put clear nail polish on the inside, it might prevent that.” 

Harry furrows his brows in confusion but then looks up at him, “Oh. Thanks.” 

Zayn shrugs, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence, “Yeah. Nail polish.” He lifts his hands, “Might do black.” 

“You’re so emo.” Louis comments, shaking his head. 

Zayn flips him off while trying to hide his smile. 

None of them  _ move _ . And Zayn struggles to put on his boots because it’s so  _ quiet _ . 

“Niall!” 

There goes quiet. 

“What?” Niall asks, patting his face. “I don’t have a fever right?” 

Louis sighs. 

Liam walks over to him and examines his arm, “Is this a  _ tattoo _ ?” 

Everyone  _ gasps _ . Including Zayn who springs up. “You cant get a tattoo!” 

Niall rolls his eyes, “It’s just pen, simmer down. Why are you guys acting up? Nothing bad with getting a tat. You got loads.” 

“Yeah.” Harry says, “But-But you’re Niall. And if you got a tattoo, you would be… Niall with a tattoo. Not Niall.” 

Louis’ the one to trace his finger over the drawing, “You getting ideas?” Then he glances over the whole thing. “Why a mailbox?” 

Niall shrugs and then smiles, “You guys gave me one.” 

“No. No I didn't.” Zayn says and Harry confronts him, “Why would you assume he meant you? Just cause you paint-” 

“Spray-paint.” Zayn corrects “and sketches.”

The officer tells them to go home already and their conversation is cut short. They exit the building and Zayn gives them all a nod before hopping into the first taxi he sees. 

It’s not like any of them expected anything different. 

“I have to go now guys. Catch up later yeah? Missed you.” Liam waves and gets into his car. He rolls the window down quickly, “Guys! There's a guacamole themed restaurant we must go to-” 

“Drive or you’ll get killed!” Louis yells at him as Liam holds up traffic. 

They all wave and Louis speaks first, “You know you could’ve come to watch us at Soccer aid yeah?” 

Harry blushes, “Erm- I mean-” 

“Really.” Louis says witha soft voice. “You don't need a formal invitation to anything. But speaking of, our old house is up for grabs and I was thinking of starting a small center for kids- which you know, you like- uh who have any speech delays or learning disabilities-” 

“Count me in.” Harry says firmly. “I’d love to be a part of that.” 

A sleek black car pulls up and Louis looks down, “That’s me. Later.” 

Harry and Niall wave once again, leaving the two of them. 

Niall sways back and forth a bit before asking, “Do you remember why we started calling you frog?” 

Harry bites his lip and shakes his head. Then after a while, “my face?” 

“Besides that.” Niall replies with a grin that Harry wants to smack off. 

Harry shrugs, “Don’t remember.” 

It doesn’t bother Niall really. Because it was only one small fragment of over six years. And honestly, Harry’s done nicer things than write a letter. 

“The letter you gave me? Shoved in under my pillow back in the x factor days.”

Harry thinks about it for a moment, memories flooding through his brain. “Oh-Oh. Niall! Y-You aw come here.” He pulls Niall into a tight hug. 

So yeah. Harry pulled a “[frog and toad](http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/5e/96/aa5e96c094b4ea53fe0ac6e516d1faf7.jpg)”. Classic children’s book. 

“You guys always knew how I felt insecure about everything. Even Louis.” Niall starts saying before making hand gestures to lift the mood so it doesn’t become heavier. “But you were the first person to write Louis and I a fan letter.”

Harry blushes, “Wasn’t too cheesy was it?” 

“No. Cause you gave me the one you were suppose to give Louis. Something about him being your first fan and you being his.” Niall says casually as Harry turns redder. “Signed your name with a heart and all that. Looked more like a love letter to be honest. But I did read the one you wrote me. [Simple](http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/5e/96/aa5e96c094b4ea53fe0ac6e516d1faf7.jpg), but really appreciated it man.”

Harry starts choking, “W-What? Why didn’t you tell me? Oh, god. At least he didn’t see it.”

“Oh he did.” Niall says with a smirk. “You said his voice was like a velvet dagger. Wonder what he did with that idea.” 

So they laugh and talk about things they  _ should _ do together. Things that probably won’t happen in reality. But that doesn’t change anything that’s happened before. Nothing changes that. 

So Niall ends up listening to the mixtape he made when he stumbles across  _ the _ song. The last one on the playlist. The night they sang this they promised they would always be friends. 

Sometimes life gets in the way of [things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_3IrKMdpq8).

  
\- dont click things or you'll cry :;) 

 

 


End file.
